We hope that your keeping well and are still keeping fit during these difficult times, please see below a statement from Irish Squash regarding ‘Return to play’ for squash.

“Irish Squash have established a working group to be led by Rosie Barry regarding the return to play guidelines for squash. A draft protocol has been prepared with reference to current government, HSE, HPSC and NSAI guidelines. Further work is required on our protocol and we will publish it following consultation with Sport Ireland.

In brief, we envisage that a return to ‘solo’ squash (one player only per court) is feasible in Phase 3 of the Irish Government’s ‘Roadmap to re-opening business & society’ (published May 1st). Updates from the UK Government with respect to easing of restrictions in Northern Ireland will guide re-opening of squash clubs there.

Irish Squash do NOT recommend any re-opening of squash courts before Phase 3 of the Roadmap has been reached.

Clubs are also advised to check out the newly-published “Return to Work Safely Protocol: COVID-19 Specific National Protocol for Employers and Workers”, where relevant, for guidance on managing the club environment.”

Quick update in light of the Government announcement today, the Munster Squash committee have decided to postpone all league activity with immediate effect, a decision on rescheduled fixtures will be issued on March 30th. Inter-Provincial competitions have also been postponed.

The Limerick Open 2020 held in the refurbished courts of Limerick L.T.& S.C. had some great squash on offer. In the Men’s A Final it was an all Sutton affair where Oisín Logan took the title in a hard fought 3-0 win over younger brother Luke. In the 3/4 playoff Conor O’Hare (Fitzwilliam) held off the strong challenge of Alex Smith.

John Hurley regained the Men’s A title with a 3-2 win over no. 1 seeded Kevin Knox in the final of this season’s competition. Both were hard pressed in their semi-final matches by the fast improving Karl McLoughney (Thurles) and Seán White. In the Women’s A event Sandra Walsh (Ballyragget) came out on top with Kate Lynch (Highfield) in runner-up spot.

Many thanks to the helpers in Highfield and the refurbished District at Silversprings for their trojan work over the weekend and thanks too, of course, to Tournament Director Eddie Murphy.

The Munster Schools Squash Championship 2020 championships will take place again in the coming weeks we would ask all interested clubs and school to organize their teams, the date and venue has still be be decided, you can download a form from this location. Please contact Gerry Connaughton for more information on Tel: 087 263 4313 e-mail: *protected email*

A great weekend of Squash in Waterford at Dunhill Squash Club at the Munster Junior Closed. Massive thanks to Junior Secretary Maurice Murphy and all the organizers at Dunhill SC for host and another successful tournament. Massive thanks to all the players and Ref’s, and also to all the parents for continuing to support the kids on their squash journey.

Congratulations to Conor Jones and his team mates from Highfield Squash club in Winning the 3rd Division in the Munster Leagues. Ennis SC were the runners up in this division and made Highfield work hard for their win all the way up to the last night of the league. Thanks to all the the teams for taking part.

Celtic Squash Club in Waterford have claimed back to back Division 1 titles last week with a win over Sundays Well from Cork, This division with Highfield SC and UCC Squash Club the other clubs has proved to be a very competitive division, Celtic captain Kevin Knox accepted the trophy on behave of Celtic SC. We would to thank all the Clubs, Captains and players for supporting the league. Final Positions available here

A great weekend of squash was had over the weekend of 6th – 8th of December as Thurles Squash Club hosted the 2019 Munster Invitational Junior Championship. Over 60 players competed from all over Munster in categories from U11 to U19 of age. The club received very positive feedback from visiting families which makes the effort put in by so many volunteers all the more worthwhile. Thank you so much to all the volunteers who made this tournament a success and to all the players for participating over the week and last but not least, to all the parent’s for their support. More results available here on Tournament Software

Can you please spread the work in your club about the Munster Leagues for Division 2, 4 and 6 which will start mid-January 2020 (week 2 or 3 depending on entries)

We will use a group format if we have 6 or 8 teams in a group, where we have teams of 4 or 5 we will have a round-robin league. Each league normally consists of Home and Away fixtures, so for instance, if there are 4 in a division that will be 3 home and 3 away fixtures, if we have 6 teams we will use 2 groups of 3 then proceed to semi-finals and finals.

If your interested or if your club is interested please send all inquiries to Conor O’Neill, Munster Squash Secretary on 0876886071

Three junior competitions, (the draw seedings must be approved by the Junior Secretary, or if no Secretary has been elected then the Munster President) will be run in Munster and the panel selection will be based on the points earned in the best two results gained from these competitions:

Munster Junior Invitational
Munster Junior Open
Munster Junior Closed

Ranking points will be awarded based on the finishing positions in the best two finishes from the above three competitions and the top six juniors in each age group will then be selected for the Munster panels.

You can carry over 40% of your points where you go up in age group during the season but if you wish to be selected on a particular age-group team, you must play in that age group in the Munster Junior Closed Championship.

Finishing

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Points in MJC

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

80

60

40

MJO & MJI

1500

1350

1200

1050

900

750

600

450

300

150

125

100

80

60

50

40

30

20

Notes:

Any Munster junior who has a current season top six Irish Squash ranking will be deemed selected for a Munster panel.

The Munster Junior Closed is a compulsory competition for all juniors wishing to be selected on Munster panels.

Where non-Munster players are competing in the Munster Open – the non-Munster players will be eliminated from the finishing positions list for the purposes of this calculation and the Munster players moved up accordingly before ranking points are allocated.

If two players are tied on ranking points the position will be decided in the first instance by their head to head result in the Munster Junior Closed and if there was no head to head result in the MJC by the player finishing highest in the MJC.

A player who is returning from injury and was unable to compete for ranking point events because of injury, may be considered for panel selection on the basis that he would clearly strengthen the panel.

The final team selection (from the panel) will be made by the team coach.

Munster junior rankings will be displayed on the Munster Squash website throughout the season.

The first tournament of the new season saw our Munster Juniors travel to Salthill in Galway on 28th and 29th of Sept. Our players got some fantastic results starting with Adam Power (Celtic) getting the ball rolling with a super win in the U11 boys to take the title 3-0 against Toby Keogh. Adam was delighted with this win and it was well deserved after a brace of final appearances last season. In the U17 boys, Eoghan Dunphy (Dunhill) lost out to Dylan Moran in a tough 5 set match. In the U19 boys, Sean White (Celtic) lost his R1 tie but rallied well and won his remaining games in the tournament to win the plate. In the U15 girls, Ava Murphy (Thurles) came up short in the final against Rebecca Kavanagh, this was a tough ask for Ava after a 5 setter in the semi-final, none the less a great achievement to make it to the final. There were many more Juniors that made the long trip to Galway and played great that weekend and really enjoyed the experience and continue to make great strides. well done to all the boys and girls and a massive thanks must go the parent for their continued support. All Results available here.

Ulster Junior Open 2019

Another successful tournament for the Munster Juniors at the recent Genesis Bakery Ulster Junior Open 2019 held in Belfast on Oct 18th and 19th. Fantastic performance from John Day (Dunhill) on winning the U11 boys title beating David Cafferky in the final. This was a super effort from John who has been training hard or working towards this for some time now. Ave Murphy was flying the flag high for the Munster girls in the U15 group, Ave finished 3rd are losing a tough semi-final, this match could of went anyway with all tight scoring games, Ave losing out eventually 3-1 to Sara Sarby. Tommy Grant from Dunhill had a very successful tournament after a hard game in R1, Tommy went on to win all remaining games and to pick the plate in the U15 girls. Congratulations to all Munster players and a big thank you to continued support from Parents and coaches who traveled. All results available here

What a great way to celebrate World Squash Day 2019, we were treated to some top-class squash in Waterford for this year’s hosting of the Munster Senior Open, with players from all corners of Ireland taking part, congratulations to Sean Conroy who won the men’s A final beating Oisin Logan, both players showed excellent athleticism fitness and power, Sean won 3-0 but all three games were tighter then the scoreline suggests, in the Woman’s B final Dymphna Riordan (Highfield) won a very tight encounter 3-2 with her clubmate Kate Lynch. Big thanks so all who helped out over the weekend, too many people to mention but without these volunteers we wouldn’t be able to run these tournaments, thanks also to Celtic Squash Club and Dunhill Squash Club for hosting the tournament. All results are available here

There will be a Level 1 coaching course run in Cork, at Sunday’s Well, in July and the applications need to be processed soon so if you would like to take a step on the ladder of coaching this is your opportunity. Check out the coaching course page here.

What a fantastic Senior Men’s and Ladies finals we had in Waterford last weekend, Kevin Knox (Celtic) won 3-1 against John Hurley (Sundays Well) with a packed Celtic looking on, the lads played fantastic Squash. Kevin took the first game and John played super squash to take the second, the third game was very tight and could have went anyway but Kevin took it after a couple of tight drops into the front. In the fourth Kevin got a lead a the midway point in the the game and John couldn’t close the gap with Kevin taking the fourth and the title. Dymphna Reardon (Highfiled) won 3-1 against Suzie Connors (Thurles) in a very entertaining game, both ladies played some excellent Squash. Suzie took the first game after she settled quicker in front of a pack crowd in Celtic, however Dymphna found her length and settled into the game and took the second game, the third game was tight but Dymphna took it to put the pressure on, Suzie game fighting in the fourth game and gave it all but Dymphna just had too much experience on the day. Well done to all players for their continued support. Full results available on Tournament Software here.

The Munster Senior closed will take place in Waterford this year, we have reserved a limited number of rooms in Dooleys Hotel in Waterford at competitive rates, please call the hotel direct (+353 51 873 531) to make inquires, quote MUNSTERSQUASH2019 – Contact the Tournament Director Eugene Walker +353 87 646 5150 for more details or enter online through Tournament Software at https://bit.ly/2E8fIVg

Last weekend we saw a tournament in Thurles Squash Club for ladies where we saw five clubs, Thurles, Celtic, Highfield, UCC and Clomantagh take part. Big thank you to Suzie Connors who organized this tournament. This competition was part of the Women Who Squash and had different levels from beginners to advanced players and as well as the competitive edge to this tournament it also had a social side as well with presentations a food in the Lounge afterwards, congratulations to all players and to the Organization committee in Thurles SC.

The annual gathering of the country’s top squash players for The Irish Nationals took place in Fitzwilliam. Pride of place from a Munster perspective must go to Sophie O’Rourke and John Hurley. Sophie, at the ripe old age of 18, retained her Irish Women’s title and John Hurley came out on top in the O40 Men’s event. Among those Munster players who contested in the different events (see results and draws here) were: Ladies A: Sophie O’Rourke; Men’s B: Seán White; Men’s O35: Pat Morrissey, Gary Robinson, Ken O’Keeffe; Men’s O40: John Hurley, Kevin Knox and David Knox.

Munster Schools Squash Championships will take place earlier then usual this year because the All Ireland School Finals have been brought forward to the 29th of March, the date for Munster Schools Squash Championships is TBC but it will either be last week in Feb or first week in March. Entries are invited from teams of three boys or three girls for u-11, u-13, u-15, u-17 and u-19 competitions. All entrants must be under age on 29th of March 2019. All three team members must attend the same school. The winning teams in each age group will be eligible to represent Munster at the All-Ireland Schools Finals, which will be hosted by Ulster this year at Lisburn Racquets Club, Co. Armagh on Friday, 29th of March 2019.

Entries should be sent to reach the tournament director by Friday 22nd of February, 2018 – by post or e-mail. An entry fee of €15.00 per team is payable on the day of each playoff.

The Ulster Masters Open takes place in Fri 15th and Sat 16th of Feb in the Belfast Boat Club, a great competition for Masters Squash – online entry – https://goo.gl/vWVcDq or contact Michelle Jackson at *protected email*

The Junior Interprovincials will take place in Munster (Waterford) this year on 8th-10th of March, the Venues will be Celtic SC and Dunhill SC. Please contact Paula DaBarra on 0871244727 for details on accommodation, we can recommend accommodation in a local hotel with competitive rates.

We are now taking entries for Division 2 Division 4 and Division 6, for the Munster Squash Leagues, leagues will start after Christmas, towards the end of January, please make your submission to Conor O’Neill (*protected email*) and please include your team panel in merit order along with the contact details of the team captain.

We were treated to a feast of squash from some of the country’s best at Highfield and Sunday’s Well. Brian Byrne (Carlow) and Sophie O’Rourke (Highfield) were the winners in the A sections but you can find the full results here.

Entries are open for this years Killarney Open, you can submit your entry through Tournament Software, link available here. Contact Maciej Truchan on 0877954729 or *protected email* for more information as some sections are fully booked up.

The Munster Leagues are Back for a new season, if your club would like to enter 1 or more teams into the leagues can you please email Conor O’Neill at *protected email* with the teams (we don’t need names for the moment, we only need to know if your club is putting a team into the league)

The current plan is to run divisions 1 to 6 like last year, we plan on running divisions 1, 3 and 5 before Christmas then starting divisions 2, 4 and 6 after Christmas, the format of each league will depend on the number of teams in each division. If you have any questions please contact Conor.

Check League Divisions here to make sure your club is in the correct division